MANILA, Philippines — Lawmen swooped down on bars and nightspots in Caloocan City Saturday evening and rounded up over 100 female workers for allegedly working without the proper permits.

Senior Superintendent Ferdinand del Rosario, Caloocan police deputy chief for operations, said the arrests were made in simultaneous raids in bars and nightclubs along McArthur Highway, Samson Road, Dagat-Dagatan, and 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th Avenues.

“We went to all these so-called fun houses in Caloocan South to determine whether there are minors employed as club workers, and if they have all the permits they needed,” Del Rosario said in a telephone interview.

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He said that out of the more than 100 invited for questioning, 36 were charged with violating City Ordinance No. 083 series of 2003, which mandated workers to get permits from the city health office and the mayor’s office.

“All of those who were charged were of legal age, and they were all working without the necessary permit,” Del Rosario said.

He added that the businesses had the proper permits, but his men found private cubicles in the establishments, giving rise to suspicion that these were being used as fronts for prostitution.

However, Del Rosario added, the raiders did not find evidence of any illegal sex trade in the nightclubs.

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